Empathic Ability Affects Emotional Experience and Physiological Response when Listening to Traditional Chinese Music

Individuals vary in musical emotional responses, possibly due to empathising ability. But how it impacts audio-listening emotions (basic or aesthetic) remains unclear, and few prior studies measured dimensional and discrete emotion models together. This study screened 40 subjects (22 females) into high- and low-empathy groups via the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. They listened to 14 Chinese Pipa music excerpts (7 positive, 7 negative) in a naturalistic setup. Emotional reactions were measured using three-dimensional (valence, energy, tension) and discrete (6 basic, 9 aesthetic emotions) models, along with recording autonomic nervous system changes. Behavioural results showed that the high empathy group had stronger emotional arousal and produced more basic and aesthetic emotions than the low empathy group. Physiological results showed higher activation of skin conductance in the high empathy group than in the low empathy group, stronger respiratory responses in the high empathy group than in the low empathy group when listening to positive music, a more significant degree of difference in the activation of skin temperature in the high than in the low empathy group in the two music genres, and greater sensitivity to the perception of emotional valence.